Late rally not enough, Orioles lose to Blue Jays 8-6: Recap 6/12/19
The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays squared off Wednesday night for game two of a three-game home series.
The O’s won the first game 4–2 and followed that effort with an 8–6 loss in game two.
A fifth inning grand slam by Blue Jays designated hitter Rowdy Tellez was the gamechanger, as Toronto blew the game open with the long ball. The Orioles scored four runs in the eighth inning but fell two runs short to the Blue Jays.
David Hess started on the mound for Baltimore, while reliever Derek Law made his first career start for Toronto as an opener. Edwin Jackson recorded the win for the Blue Jays.
The Jays and O’s were in a scoreless deadlock through the first three and a half innings, with both teams struggling to get hits early in the game.
However, Baltimore broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning, when All-Star candidate Trey Mancini crushed a home run to center field to put the Orioles up 1–0. The 423-foot blast is Mancini’s 14th homer of the season.
The Blue Jays responded immediately in the top of the fifth by loading the bases with no outs. Second baseman Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an infield single to score Luke Maile and tie the game at 1–1.
At this point, Hess was relieved by Miguel Castro, in what would become a losing effort. Despite a solid start to the game, Hess falls to a dreadful 1–9 on the season.
Castro proceeded to strike out the following batter but threw a wild pitch in the next at-bat that allowed Cavan Biggio to score.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fifth, Toronto DH Rowdy Tellez hit a grand slam to right field that put the Blue Jays up 6–1. This was a major turning point in the game.
The O’s scratched on a run in the bottom of the fifth, as Rio Ruiz scored on a wild pitch to cut Toronto’s lead to 6–2.
Despite some momentum for Baltimore, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. responded in the top of the sixth inning with a RBI double to give the Blue Jays a 7–2 lead. Vladdy finished the game 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI.
The O’s made a late push in the bottom of the eighth inning, cutting Toronto’s lead to 8–6 heading into the ninth. Chance Sisco’s double scored two runs, and Rio Ruiz singled to center to score Sisco and cut the lead to two runs.
A Chris Davis walk and a hit-by-pitch to Jonathan Villar put the winning run at the plate for the Orioles with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Daniel Hudson was able to save the game for Toronto.
Despite some momentum late in the game, the Orioles would go on to lose the game 8–6. Baltimore falls to 21–46 on the season.
The MSB Orioles Player of the Game is Chance Sisco, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
Baltimore and Toronto will face off at Camden Yards tomorrow night in the rubber match before the Boston Red Sox come to town Friday night.
